The End
by JustHexx
Summary: The demon lord of the undead has been summoned to the human world and threatens to destroy it, and Dante needs Nero's help to send it back to hell.  Plenty of action and violence.
1. Chapter 1 This is big, kid

Here's my first fan-fictin in years: an attempt at Devil May Cry 4 (since I've recently developed a dangerous obsession with DMC and Capcom in general).

It won't be yaoi and I apologize for that because I know how popular it is, but I do plan on writing two sequels which will probably have some yaoi in them.

So for now it's rated M for language, violence, gore, and Dante being a pervert.

* * *

Chapter One ~ "This is big, kid."

It was five o'clock and Nero had just returned from work, helping the Order rebuild Fortuna and slaying the occasional devil, and his phone was already ringing.

"Aren't I the popular one?" He spoke to himself as he checked the caller I.D.; he did not recognize the number, so he let it ring. If it was important they would leave a message.

Nero went upstairs to take a shower; he took his time, washing away all the dirt and sweat from the day's labor. When he stepped out, the phone was ringing again. Expecting a call from Kyrie (he was always expecting a call from Kyrie), he pulled on his jeans and rushed downstairs to answer it.

But it was the same mysterious number again.

He frowned and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid!"

Nero blinked.

"You don't remember me, kid? I'm hurt!"

"…Dante?"

"Bingo!" Dante shouted into the phone. "You're a real smart kid, you know that?"

"I'm not a ki—Wait, how did you get my number?"

Dante ignored him.

"So, kid, what've you been up to for the past two months?"

"Three months, _old man_," corrected Nero. "Your memory isn't what it used to be is it? And I've been busy rebuilding Fortuna. How about you? How many old folk's homes have you been in and out of for the past three months?"

"Ha, real funny, _kid_. You're a comedian. But I got more important stuff to talk to you about than your comedic genius."

He suddenly became serious.

"I got a job I could use your help with. Some idiot summoned a devil he can't control and the dick-head's been running around causing all sorts of problems."

"What's the matter, old man? You got arthritis or something?"

Dante was silent for a moment.

"This is big, kid," he continued. "This devil could bring down our world no problem. I need you and your pretty glow stick at Devil May Cry ASAP."

Nero agreed and wrote down the directions he was given. Then he paused. He did not have a car, nor were there many available in Fortuna; the few cars Nero had seen were old and rusted death traps_…kind of like Dante_. To get off the island, he would have to take the ferry, but then what? It would be long walk to Devil May Cry.

"Wait," he said. "How the hell am I supposed to get there?"

"Oh, ya know, I would _love_ to help you out, but my _arthritis_ is acting up so I'm gonna have to let you go."

He hung up.

"Jackass…" Nero muttered to himself as he hung up the receiver.

* * *

Sorry about how short this chapter is; I'm just really using it as a jumping off point to start this one up.


	2. Chapter 2 They Never Learn

_This chapter takes place the day before Dante calls up Nero._

_

* * *

_

Chapter Two ~ They Never Learn.

There was a knock on the door.

"Ugh," whined Dante with his feet up on the desk, reading a Playboy. "Finally."

He got up and walked to the door, sure the pizza guy had used up his thirty minutes; a frown marred his face as he opened the door.

It was Lady.

"Great," he snarled.

"Good to see you, too." Lady said, completely calm; she walked past him into Devil May Cry. "I got a job for you."

"When don't you?"

She ignored him and continued, "I need your help on an investigation. Some idiot sorcerer is summoning demons in his backyard."

"How original," Dante sighed to himself. "What if I said no?"

"Then I'll have to remind you that you still owe money for that bridge you destroyed."

"Still? I can hardly afford a good pizza! Speaking of which, where is that guy?"

He stuck his head out the door, perhaps in hopes of the pizza guy materializing before him.

"Oh, don't worry about him," said Lady. "I made a deal with all the pizza places in the city. None of them are to sell you any pizza until we get this job done."

Dante scowled. This was not the first time she had done this, and it had been hell.

"Then what am I supposed to eat?"

She shrugged.

"Strawberry sundaes."

* * *

Dante had been on the road for three hours now. The town he was to meet Lady at was in the middle of the boondocks; she left without him on her motorcycle. He was still scowling as he drove through the countryside. And it was raining, which forced him to put the top up on his red convertible and what was the point of having a convertible if you had to drive with the top up? He did not even get any good radio stations out here; it was all country. And not the good kind (if there is such a thing), this was the kind of country that made Dante want to jab a screwdriver in his ear and give himself a lobotomy. So he drove with the radio off, deciding now would be the perfect time to invest in a radio with a CD player.

At least he could speed.

That was until he hit a pothole the size of the Marianas Trench and bashed his face on the steering wheel, losing control of his vehicle for a moment. He yelled unintelligibly at the road in an attempt to vent his undirected rage.

There was no way this day could get any worse. Just no way.

In another hour Dante arrived in the town, called Willowstown. Creative. And it was still raining. Fantastic. He drove through the town, which (big surprise) had a massive willow tree in the exact center. At the town center there was an inn, a bar, a general store (Dante thought that was hilarious), and a few random buildings. He noticed Lady's bike in front of the bar and parked beside it before entering.

The place was filled with cigarette smoke and weathered, burly men with beards. They eyed him suspiciously, even stopping their games of pool and poker to stare. It was an old bar, probably one of the town's first structures; the wood creaked, the paint was chipped in places, names and messages written across the molding that divided the wood paneled section of the walls from the painted, dry wall above. The old analog clock was stained, the second hand bent, and the small TV in the north-east corner was cutting in and out. There was even an old, moth eaten deer head mounted above the door. It stunk like sweat, smoke, beer, and musk.

"Hey," Dante greeted the unfriendly stares with a cheery wave and a grin. "Man, do I need a drink…this a good bar? You would not believe the shit I went through to get here…"

He walked up to the bar and took a seat before ordering a beer. The bartender, his face a roadmap of scars, glared at Dante.

"You ain't welcome here," he said; then his voice suddenly dropped to a wicked snarl, "Son of Sparda!"

The demonic bartender bashed through the counter, its skin bursting to reveal hard, glistening scales and a face like a dog skull. It lunged at Dante only to catch Rebellion in the chest. Dante sighed deeply, holding up his blade as he felt blood run down the weapon and onto his hand and shoulder.

"Can't even get a drink anymore without gettin' attacked by some devils…"

He quickly drew Ebony just as half of the patrons became demons. Aiming over his shoulder at them, Dante blasted away, quickly killing six of them. The humans fled with screams of terror. Dante brought his sword around, slicing the first devil in two, and using Rebellion's momentum to decapitate another of the pack. The rest backed off and hissed at him, shifting positions subtly.

"C'mon, ya pussies," shouted Dante, a wide grin on his face.

One of the demons, the largest one, roared at him, the signal for all the demons to charge at once. A series of rapid, high-powered shots rang out from the door, killing the remaining demons and wounding their leader, who leapt out the window. Dante groaned when he saw Lady standing in the doorway reloading her custom submachine gun.

"Way to ruin the fun," he growled, sheathing Rebellion and setting Ivory in its holster. "I had that under control, so you just wasted a whole clip for nothing, so…ha!"

"I know," she said. "But I couldn't let you have all the fun."

Dante huffed and walked behind the bar, stepping carefully around the puddle of demon blood, and grabbed a bottle of beer.

"Oh, and thank you for flushing them out for me," said Lady as Dante opened the bottle. "I knew they could not resist a fight with the infamous Son of Sparda."

Dante waved her off. He figured this was what she was up to when he entered the bar and caught a whiff of demon.

"So what's the story with this idiot sorcerer?"

"Believe it or not," she said, taking a seat at the bar. "He brought a demon into the human world."

"They never learn, do they?"

"Well, this one may have. He's the one that called me."

Dante cocked an eyebrow.

"Turns out," continued Lady, "he was trying to summon a lesser demon, one that he could 'control,' and something big got out. The thing's been causing trouble in this town and every other one within twenty miles. It's not trying to be quiet either and is leaving signs everywhere. Up-turned graves, possessions, destroyed churches…" She produced some pictures, laying them out on the bar top amongst the broken glass and demon blood; they showed the remains of a church, the cross planted upside-down in the ashes, dug up graves sporting empty coffins, and murder scenes where only spatters of blood remained. "It's collecting body parts."

Dante slowly lowered his beer, staring at the disturbing photographs.

"Hmm…that's creepy."

"Fifty people have gone missing in the last month." Lady said.

Dante whistled.

"He's been busy…" He slugged the rest of his beer and leapt up, adjusting his leather pants. "So let's kill it!"

Lady shook her head.

"Wha…why not?" Dante deflated.

"The demon probably isn't here. This would be too obvious a spot. We're here because this is where the sorcerer is holed up. I just needed you to bring out any demons we might encounter."

"Figures…"

* * *

Dante was growing impatient. Of course the sorcerer would have multiple hideouts, but he could have at least put some devils to guard them just to make it interesting. The past four hours had been wasted in the countryside, checking all his little hidey-holes. Each building, be it a manor or a shack, was empty, though it was clear the sorcerer had once made his home there. There were always strange symbols, runes, books, and even alchemical supplies left behind; in other words, nothing that interested Dante in the slightest. Lady would always glance over them, checking to see how long ago he left his hideout, and Dante complained once, but he shut up when she gave him a look that asked if he was ready to spend the rest of the day fishing bullets out of his groin.

"Why couldn't you have just called him?" Dante asked after another hour of useless searching. "You do have his number don't you?"

She gave him a flat look.

"Don't you think I tried that?" Lady growled. "The reason I called you is because he didn't answer me and that probably meant the demons got him. We need him to tell us about what we're dealing with and you're here because I don't know exactly what it is. Okay?"

Dante was silent a moment.

"Yeah, but why didn't he tell you that when he first contacted you?"

"Shut up, Dante! Just shut up and keep looking!"

He was about ready to jump in his convertible and escape when they found a locked shack about four miles away from the town (none of the other hideouts had been locked). There was no response when Lady knocked, so she shot the lock and in she went. Dante tried to follow, but as soon as he took a step it felt as though he had walked into a glass door. Some sort of invisible force was keeping him out.

"What the hell?" He growled as he rubbed the faint pain from his nose in annoyance.

"He's got wards around the doorframe," said Lady. "They're meant to keep demons out."

"Great."

Lady shot at the runes, destroying them enough to break the barrier so Dante could enter.

"You know," he said as he walked in. "This has been a great day so far." His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

"I don't want to hear you bitch right now."

"No, really, this is fantastic. I enjoyed driving the three hours here in the rain and listening to the wonderful variety of radio stations available."

"My offer still stands, Dante. Do you want me to shoot you? If you do, just say so."

She walked into the shack, which appeared to be where the sorcerer had been hiding. There was a portable stove, a generator, some empty bottles, canned goods, and dirty dishes; a blanket was rolled up and stuffed in one corner. Books were littering the floor, some of the pages ripped as if the sorcerer was frantically searching through them. The place stunk like a combination of stale sweat and human waste, probably from the bottles of urine and the bucket near the door.

"Wow," muttered Dante. "I thought I was a slob."

"You are." Lady said.

The place was empty. Lady began searching the walls for any hidden doors or rooms, shoving aside the paper runes and pages of the Bible that were plastered to the walls. Dante sighed. He hated jobs like this, where he had to find something, and often times he was sent backwards and forwards in his searches. After a few minutes, during which Dante could do nothing because of the wards covering the walls, he kicked at the floor in frustration, sending books and cans skittering across the floor. Lady turned around to glare at him, but her jaw dropped when she saw him staring at a trapdoor in the floor.

"You know, Dante," she said as she approached the newly revealed secret. "I think there's a genius in there somewhere." She pointed at his head.

He merely shrugged; he was beyond caring about she said now. Leaning down, he grasped the ring that acted as a handle and yanked the trapdoor open. A startled shout sounded from within the darkness and a few shots rang out. Dante leapt back, avoiding the gunfire with practiced ease. After two shots, they ceased and it was silent again.

"It's awfully rude to shoot at your guests!" Lady shouted into the dark hole.

"Lady," came a tentative and raspy voice. "Is that you?"

"Yes, now get up here. My partner's impatient."

Dante scoffed.

"I'm not a partner," he said. "I'm a victim."

She shot him a glare and he looked away innocently. The orange glow of a flashlight illuminated the ladder below and a disheveled man with a tangled, dirty beard and greasy hair climbed up. He placed the flashlight on the floor next him before he stood. He was wearing jeans and a tattered sweatshirt, both sporting some mysterious stains.

"Thank God you're here," he said. "There are demons all over the place. And they're chasing me!"

"I don't know why you're surprised." Dante said.

The man looked at him for a moment before a sudden fear shot across his face. He lifted his gun, a crappy little .22 (Dante did not know how he planned on killing anything with that), and aimed it at Dante.

"A demon!" He screamed. "You let into a demon in here!"

He shot at Dante in a panic. Dante leapt out of the way again.

"Whoa," shouted Dante. "Hey, come on! At least say hello, first."

Lady sighed and grabbed the man's wrist, easily twisting the gun out his hand.

"Don't be an idiot," she said. "That's my partner."

"You mean victim," corrected Dante with conviction.

The man blinked at her.

"This is Dante," she said; he gave the man a salute. "Dante, this is Simon, our client, and he's going to tell us about the demons."

She released him. Simon knelt down and retrieved his pistol before producing some folding chairs from the back of the shack. They sat down, Dante leaning back heavily and planting Rebellion between his feet. Simon took a breath before he began.

"All I wanted was to bring in a low-level demon," he said. "Something that could bring me some fortune. I succeeded, but I was arrogant and didn't close the circle right way. Something big got out, an Angel of Death. It's what's causing all of these deaths and disappearances…and it's probably opened a few gates to let in its friends, too. The demon is probably building an army of the undead from the corpses its collecting…I don't know if you know how to fight that, but you should hurry before it gets too strong. It's probably hiding in the city, or if it isn't it will be soon; there are more people for it to kill and it will likely go unnoticed. Disappearances happen all the time in big cities."

Dante stood up.

"All right," he said. "Now that you're done wasting my time, I think I'll go kill the bastard before he causes anymore trouble."

"Wait," said Simon; Dante huffed and dropped back into his chair. "I don't think you understand. You cannot kill it. This demon is a lord of the undead with unimaginable powers. I doubt the two of you will be able to handle it alone. All the armies of the earth wouldn't be able to do a thing! This is the sort of demon that can put an end to all life on this planet without even blinking."

The desperation in Simon's voice made it clear he was not exaggerating.

They left once Simon had given them all the information about the demon they needed. The sorcerer told them that in order to stop the demon, they had to send it back through a gate or summoning circle. The sort of demons they would face would be made of dead flesh and bones and would be resilient, tougher than most devils. Simon was not sure what friends the devil would bring in, but he knew they would be some of the strongest.

"This will be fun," said Dante once they were back in town; most of the demons had cleared out when they got close.

"I'm calling Trish as soon as I get back," said Lady as she sat on her motorcycle and pulled on her helmet. "I know you don't have any friends, so leave this part to me."

Dante rolled his eyes.

"Contrary to popular belief," he said. "I do to have friends. And I know someone that'll be a little more useful than Trish."

She started her bike.

"Your doppelganger doesn't count."

Lady sped off, her tires spitting up moisture from the slick road.

"Bitch," muttered Dante as he climbed into his ruby red convertible.


	3. Chapter 3 Business Trip

There are a few f-bombs in this chapter...and a titty.

Just to be clear, this is back to the current time, as in the day Dante calls Nero.

* * *

Chapter Three ~ Business Trip

Nero tugged at the sleeve of his coat, making sure it was completely covering his Devil Bringer. He would arrive at the mainland within the hour and the closer the ferry was, the more nervous about his Bringer he became; it would surely be a disaster out here if someone saw it. The salty air yanked at his coat and hair, annoying to say the least.

Capulet City had come into view about an hour earlier, shrouded in a hazy, brown fog of pollution. The skyline was jagged and barely visible through the cloud of pollution. As the ferry came to port, Nero curled his lip at the plastic bags, cans, and other detritus; the water had a greasy appearance. Fortuna was a beautiful city, but this place made it look like a fucking painting. Nero wondered if all cities were this filthy and – if so – why the _fuck_ would anyone live there? He did not get a true taste of it until he stepped off the ferry, however. The port was choked with seagulls all positioning themselves over fat tourists and snagging French fries from stinking gutters. There was as much garbage inside the trash cans as there was out, most people just tossing their trash in the general direction of the can and not bothering to pick it up if they missed. Nero had never seen this many people in one place before, the only creatures outnumbering the seagulls…until he noticed the pigeons.

It did not take long to find the bus, but he had to wait about half an hour for the right one to show up. When it arrived, he eagerly hopped on and was greeted by more filth, though it was far more subtle. The floor was sticky and there were a few mysterious stains on one of the seats. Nero took a seat in the back, away from the people. Someone had etched "FUCK YOU" into the back of the seat in front him, complete with a vulgar picture drawn with the skill of a kindergartner.

Nero could tell this was going to be fun.

It was a little over an hour when they reached his destination, Slum Avenue, which sounded like a fantastic place, just where anyone would want to raise their kids. This side of the city looked pretty sleazy; it was filthier than the rest and there were a few people walking around that were either homeless or coke-heads…or both. The first thing he noticed was Love Planet, its marquee illuminating the dark street. Why was Nero not surprised Dante would build his shop down the street from a titty-bar? He kept his distance as he walked down the street, ignoring the woman that attempted to call him over and keeping away from the threatening shadows.

After a few paces, he came upon a building with a flickering, neon pink sign that spelled out Devil May Cry.

It looked like a dump. The façade looked as if it had been repaired countless times, but not properly because Nero could see some cracks in the masonry. There were bars on the windows, probably meant to keep out thieves; that just made Nero feel so safe standing in the middle of a dark street. He quickly trotted up to the door, glancing with a wrinkled nose at the garbage cans full of pizza boxes and beer bottles that sat on the curb; he knocked. The door flew open to reveal a grinning Dante.

"Hey, kid!" He said. "You're finally here."

"I have a name, you know."

Dante ignored him. With the door open, Nero got a glimpse of the inside of Devil May Cry. The place was a dump. There were all kinds of junk inside, including a broken jukebox and a television as old as time itself. Demon skulls and weapons lined the walls of the shop. There was even a bar and a beat up billiards table.

"Go ahead and put your gear in the car; it's on the side of the shop. We need to leave as soon as possible. I'll be out in a sec."

Nero walked around the shop and froze when he saw Dante's car. To his surprise, there was a red convertible waiting for him, and a nice one too (he did not know much about cars, but he was pretty sure it was a Corvette). He could not imagine how Dante could possibly have enough money for one of these, especially with his shop in such a state.

"Like her?"

Dante walked past him to deposit some weapons in the backseat.

"How the hell do you have this?" Nero asked as he put the case containing Red Queen in the back with Dante's weapons.

Dante hopped in the driver's seat.

"You gotta have your priorities in order, kid."

Nero scowled as he got in the car.

"Yeah," he said, laying on the sarcasm thick. "_Old man_, you sure seem to have your priorities straight. Nice car; beat up old shop. You live in a trash can down the street from a strip club. The street you live on is crawling with homeless druggies. Everything seems to be going pretty well."

Dante laughed.

"You forgot the part about me being in debt."

He started his car and pulled out of the alley, launching down the street at a blinding speed. Nero gripped the door handle with his Devil Bringer and tensed as they flew out onto the main street. Horns blared at them from the drivers Dante cut off.

"What's the matter, kid?" Dante asked. "Haven't you ever been in a car before?"

"Not with a psycho!"

Dante grinned devilishly.

"So," began Nero once he had become used to the insane way Dante was driving. "What's with this demon anyway?"

"Oh, you'll love this one," replied Dante. "Some idiot summoned a lord of the undead. The bastard's been causing all kinds of trouble since; disappearances, possessions, and such."

"Wow."

"Creative, right? I'm sure we'll fight some animated puppets and weird lizard things, which, by the way, I've already had the pleasure of sending back to hell."

He paused.

"Sometimes I wonder why it can't ever be an animated blow up doll…or kittens."

Nero stared at Dante in disbelief. How could he go from blow up dolls to kittens?

"Am I right?" Dante asked. "I mean…everything with demons is blood and spikes, like a metal band. Why can't it be kittens? And the marionettes and scarecrows are always ugly and creepy. Why can't they be blow up dolls?"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about, old man?"

Dante waved him off.

"Ah! I guess you're too young to understand."

"Obviously. I haven't gone senile like you have. Talk to me then and _maybe_ I'll get it."

Dante narrowed his eyes at Nero for a moment before returning his attention to the road.

"Kids these days," he muttered. "No respect for their elders…"

After a few minutes of silence, Nero reached over to change the radio station only to have his hand slapped away.

"No," scolded Dante, "You've lost your radio privileges! But if you're good, I'll let you have a juice box."

Nero scowled and stubbornly reached for the radio again. Dante, again, smacked his hand away, this time much harder.

"I said, 'NO!'"

Nero threw himself into Dante's shoulder and began randomly changing the radio stations, quickly changing from rock to jazz to country and back. Dante glared at him and pushed his hand against the younger man's face, crushing his nose and forcing him to turn his head away; with his other hand, and his knee steering the car as they drifted in and out of opposing lanes of traffic, he changed the radio back to its original station. Nero growled and twisted his body around, reaching with his Devil Bringer to hit a random button that caused the radio to blare Spanish news from the speakers. Dante leaned over, completely blocking Nero, and changed the station back. Nero cursed and kicked Dante in the head, hard enough to stun him momentarily so he could switch the station back to the (likely) Mexican news.

"That's it!"

Dante drew Ebony from within his coat and shot the radio. It gave one last "CINCO!" before emitting a horrible death-cry and fizzling out.

"There!" Dante shouted. "No more radio! And no juice box either!"

"Yeah, but now your damn car has a broken radio…and who knows what else you did to it..."

Dante glared at him.

"You know what, kid? Shut the fuck up."

Nero smirked. However, it quickly disappeared as they passed over a bridge and a massive tower came into view. The tower twisted up to impossible heights, higher than any other building in the city; Nero had seen it as the ferry pulled into port, but he had assumed it was just a skyscraper. It clearly was not. No skyscraper was shaped like this, like a fanged corkscrew that was clearly not of human-make. It looked evil.

Dante grinned at his expression.

"Crazy, right?"

"What is it?" Nero asked.

"A long story. Maybe I'll tell you when we have the time…and if you stop being a brat."

Nero huffed and slouched against his seat, putting his foot up on the dashboard. Dante knocked his foot down.

"Kid!" He growled. "I already got a bullet hole in my radio; I don't need your damn footprints all over my car."

"And whose fault is that?" Nero asked as he put his foot back up.

Dante glared at him. Nero rolled his eyes and dropped his foot with a loud thump.

"Where are we going, anyway?" He asked, watching the city float by.

Dante pointed to a construction site in the distance. It was the half-completed skeleton of a future apartment complex the city had been building for the past three years. Delays and money issues kept the project from being completed on time and it was soon abandoned. Now it was a hideout for a local gang, whose torn bodies were found scattered around the area the day before. They looked as if they had been mauled by dogs.

Big dogs.

As they came close to the construction site, Nero's Bringer began to glow brightly and gave out a few painful throbs that jarred his teeth. Dante whistled.

"Finally," he grinned. "Some demons! Guess your glow stick is useful for more than just throwing crap."

Nero hopped to the backseat and checked over Red Queen, making sure the fuel injection system and all the interior machinery was working properly. He placed it on his shoulder and revved it twice. A satisfied grin spread across his face. As he examined his fine weapon, the sound of gunfire was unmistakable from the construction site; angry growls and painful roars echoed off the buildings; sudden sparks of light shot up, briefly illuminating the figures of Trish and Lady battling what looked like mummified wolves. Nero shoved his case to the floor, easily keeping his balance when Dante drifted into a stop, smashing two of the devils with the side of his car and almost taking out Lady's bike (he would never live that down); he laughed triumphantly.

"I don't know why you bitch about a broken radio," said Nero as he leapt out of the car, "And footprints when you treat your car like this."

"There's a reason I bought a red car." Dante grabbed Rebellion and joined Nero. "You don't notice demon blood as much."

A group of the wolf-demons turned to face them, snarling ferociously with cracked lips pulled back to reveal countless rows of triangular teeth. Their eyes glowed with an eerie, red light. Dante smirked.

"You ready for this, kid?"

"Don't break a hip."

The demons lunged blindly at them, not knowing the horrible fate to which they went so willingly. Dante immediately began firing on them. Chunks of dried flesh flew off the demons' bodies with each shot, but it hardly slowed them down. He vaulted over the lupine demons as they came close. Firing down at them while twisting through the air, he landed gracefully behind them with his blade ready. The demons hardly had time to turn around when he tore through them. Dried, bloodless limbs shot out on either side of Dante, the demons' bodies following shortly afterward as his Stinger shredded them like paper.

Meanwhile, Nero leapt into the midst of the pack; revving his blade and spinning like a windmill, he brought it down on the demons. Their dry skin instantly caught fire, but they showed no sign of pain. One of the demons lunged at him. He grabbed it by the throat and, with a shout, slammed it on the hard concrete before twisting around and flinging it at its allies. The demons bounced around like bowling pins.

They pushed through the demons toward Lady and Trish, leaving burnt, twitching limbs and half decimated bodies in their wake; the demons snarled and snapped at them, even with their heads removed from their bodies, missing all their legs, and rent in two. And the stench was horrible, a combination of stale blood, graveyard, and rotten meat…not to mention the wretched, fetid odor of burning flesh. Nero's stomach churned from the smell and the disturbing image of a biting wolf head sans its body, but he would never let Dante know that and he managed to keep his bile down. In a moment, they had reached Lady and Trish, both of the women mowing down the demons as easily as Dante and Nero.

"Glad you could finally make it," snapped Lady as she switched to her Kalina Ann, the impatience showing clearly on her face.

"Hey, girls," said Dante amiably. He grabbed Nero's hood and yanked him in front of him; Nero choked. "See, Lady? I told you I have friends!"

"Not now, Dante!"

She stabbed a demon in the chest with the bayonet on her weapon before launching a missile into the crowd. The resulting blast was deafening and Nero winced from the unexpected pain in his ears.

"Dante," shouted Trish. "Find their leader. I saw him farther north. If you take care of him, these demons will clear out."

Dante gave her a salute.

"Got it! C'mon, kid."

He dragged Nero a few feet before the "kid" angrily elbowed him in the side. They sprinted to the north, ignoring the demons in their path, leaping and diving around them to avoid any damage. Dante was much better at that than Nero, who suffered a few scratches and bites. The older devil hunter made it look easy. When they were finally clear of the horde of mummified, wolf-demons, they immediately spotted what was clearly their leader. A man with a long, serpentine tail wielding twin swords that sputtered with energy glared at them with red eyes. The devil sported a fantastic musculature that made it seem as if he could easily snap a bear's neck; the blades that spewed power were actually directly attached to his hands and twisted up and around his forearms, covering them like a heavy, black gauntlet. His feet were talons and he displayed his long fangs as they came closer. The devil's long, dark hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. He was sitting astride a giant, armored wolf the size of draft horse. It had a thick mane of fur that hung loosely over its neck and shoulders. The maroon armor that covered its body was natural, growing from the hard, black scales that covered its body and flayed out into frill-like protrusions. Huge, tusk-like fangs jutted out from its lower jaw and its claws were long and shovel-shaped. Its hind legs ended in cloven hooves and were laced with thick fur.

The devil sneered at them.

"Ah," he said; his voice was deep and resonated with power. "The Son of Sparda. This should be fun!"

* * *

I'm 90% sure Dante drives a Corvette, but they do not exist as convertibles (as my brother tells me). If any one knows specifically what type of car it is, please tell me.


	4. Chapter 4 Marchosias

Thanks to my only reviewer and the one person who set up an alert for this story. Yeah, we're doing great so far!

* * *

Chapter Four – Marchosias

"Ah," said the demon, "The Son of Sparda. This should be fun!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Nero muttered.

The demon pointed his sparking blade at Dante.

"Prepare yourself!"

He charged his mount forward, the wolf demon letting out a vicious roar and baring its long fangs as it lunged.

"What, no speech?" Dante asked.

Nero whipped out Blue Rose and fired at the wolf demon as it charged them; the bullets bounced off the wolf demon's hide, leaving small chips and grooves in its thick armor. He rolled out the way when the demon was an inch from snapping his nose off. Dante sighed and leapt up to plant a hard kick to the side of the devil's head, sending him tumbling over the back of his mount. The devil landing gracefully on his talons to face Dante with a soft chuckle; his red eyes were dancing with excitement.

"Kid," shouted Dante. "Take care of Fido."

"Sure thing pops."

The wolf demon snarled at Nero; a piece of its armored brow was missing. Nero drew Red Queen as the demon circled him slowly and cautiously, its broad claws clacking faintly against the concrete.

"What's the matter? Ya scared?"

It growled lowly in response. Nero rushed at the demon; it leapt out of the way, barely dodging his swinging blade and retaliated with a swipe of its claws. He dove away from its claws and brought his blade down heavily against the demon's shoulder. It roared in anger and lashed out him with its claws again, this time catching Nero in the side and sending him tumbling across the ground. The demon leapt at him with its mouth agape and claws reaching out to grab him. Nero rolled out of the way and quickly jumped to his feet. It ran past him, ignoring Nero as he slashed at its side, and began to circle him again, this time keeping a safe distance and not slowing. Nero switched to Blue Rose and shot a few rounds before he had to reload (sometimes he wondered if it was such a good idea to have a revolver with a 6-shot cylinder that fired two rounds at once). The demon took this chance to strike; a deadly glow formed in its open mouth as it inhaled deeply.

"Are you kidding me?"

Nero dove away from the sudden torrent of flame that shot from its mouth. The demon surged forward through the fire and smoke, the flames billowing around its armor like a cloak. Nero turned his body as the demon rushed toward him so that it barely grazed the front of his coat and reached out his Devil Bringer in an attempt to grab it; his claws easily caught in the demon's articulated armor and he was dragged a few feet before he swung onto its back. It roared and began barreling around the construction site at insane speeds, taking sharp turns, jumping, and stopping suddenly in a desperate attempt to shake him off. Nero managed to stay on, but that was all he could do.

As Nero was fighting the wolf demon, Dante was having his own fun with its master. They spent a few moments sizing each other up, circling like two predators and searching for any weakness. The devil's lips were curled up in a silent snarl of joy.

"You should just surrender," he said. "It would make this battle much easier for the both of us."

"Eh, you know," replied Dante, "I've always enjoyed the hard road; it's just boring when things get too easy."

The devil grinned.

"I'd hoped you would say that," he said. "I've always dreamed of dueling you. And now I, Marchosias, will finally have the honor of taking your head!"

Marchosias slashed one of his blades through the air, sending a wave of crackling energy arcing toward Dante. Dante stepped back and watched the lightning shoot past him; he let out a low whistle and grinned. He could tell this was going to be fun. In a moment, Marchosias was on him, his blades singing and sparking through the air. Dante swung Rebellion at the devil and clashed his blade hard enough to knock him back; he was blinded briefly by the sudden surge of energy that was released. He did not give Marchosias the chance to recover, lunging forward with his blade to bring it down in a short arch on the devil as he flew through the air. A resounding crack as loud as thunder echoed through the construction site as Rebellion crashed against the twin blades of Marchosias. The devil's spiny tail shot around, barely scratching the tip of Dante's nose as the devil hunter twisted out of the way; he used the momentum of his evasion to plant a heavy kick to Marchosias's ribs. The devil growled with fury and bounced off the ground once before landing on his feet.

He spat out a globule of blood as he glared at Dante; it looked like pitch.

"You're as good as I've heard," said Marchosias.

"I try." Dante replied with a grin.

Marchosias rose one of his clawed feet high in the air before stomping against the concrete. Lightning surged forward from his talon, tearing up the concrete and sending chunks of the hard stone launching across the battlefield. Dante dashed out of the way and switched to his guns; he fired swiftly at Marchosias. The bullets tore through the devil's flesh with surprising ease. Marchosias cried out in agony as his black blood splattered across the ground; he brought his blades up to shield against the bullets a second later. The swords sparked and sputtered when the bullets ricocheted off them. Dante charged forward with a Stinger, busting through Marchosias's defenses and snapping one of the devil's blades; it spiraled through the air and stuck in the concrete with a final burst of energy. Rebellion stuck in the devil's chest, effectively pinning him to that spot; the scent of the blood pooling from the wound stung Dante's nostrils. Marchosias coughed harshly as he raised his remaining weapon in desperation, but he froze when Dante pressed Ivory against his forehead.

"Wait," choked Marchosias. "Do not finish me yet. I can help you."

"Well, hurry it up, Marchy-ass, I ain't got all day."

The devil let loose a sputtering, choking laugh and continued.

"I know who you're looking for…Samael, the Angel of Death. He's making his home in…in the sewers under that apartment building." He motioned with his stubby arm to a building south-east of them. "The fastest way would be to go there directly…" He stopped to take a shaky breath. "But there is a beast guarding it a-and you will not see her until it is too late."

Dante grinned.

"Her?"

"Hhh…yes…she calls herself Nelapsi." Marchosias paused as he tried to breathe through blood filled lungs. "I say good luck fighting her. She flies."

The wolf demon charged past them, Nero clinging to its mane with his human hand as he punched it around the neck and shoulders with his Bringer.

"Anything else before I blow your brains out?" Dante asked as he pressed the muzzle of his gun harder against Marchosias's forehead.

"Samael," he sputtered. "He knows you're looking for him…and…he knows about your friends. He knows…that they would come with…that you would have brought him." He motioned toward Nero, who had torn away a piece of the wolf demon's armor and was now bashing it over the head with it. "Do not underestimate Samael, he will find a way to kill you."

Dante nodded.

"Thanks for the information."

"No problem. I never liked him anyway."

Marchosias grinned just before Dante pulled the trigger. His head snapped back with a crack and his body slumped against Rebellion. The devil's corpse dissolved into a dripping, black mass that closely resembled tar and immediately began to evaporate. He left his other sword behind, some of the sticky tar still clinging to its hilt. _Another trophy!_ Dante put away his weapons and, with a delightful grin, lifted the swords; they were surprising light and coursed with internal warmth. Definitely a fine addition to his collection.

"Aw, man…"

Dante turned and immediately burst into laughter. Nero was standing in a puddle of black tar much larger than the mess Marchosias's body had made; it was covering his forearms, thighs, and boots. A handful of the stuff was dripping from his claws. Nero glared at him.

"It's not funny, old man."

"C'mon, kid," he said, motioning with hand for Nero to follow. "We still got work to do."

Nero shook his hands free of the pitch as he followed Dante, his lips curled back in disgust and annoyance. The mummified dog demons had cleared out; they had no reason to stay now that their leader was dead. Lady huffed as Dante and Nero approached them.

"This is your friend?" She asked. "How old is he? Twelve?"

Nero scowled. Dante laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. Nero swiped at the older man with his claws, completely missing as Dante danced skillfully out of reach.

"This is Lady," he said from a safe distance. "Lady, this is Nero."

"Ah, you must be the 'kid with the glow stick'."

He growled.

"Been talking about me behind my back, old man?"

Lady burst into laughter.

"Old man?" She laughed. "Oh, that's perfect!"

"Shut up," snapped Dante with a scowl. "If I'm an old man then what does that make you? An old lady."

Lady instantly stopped laughing and glared at him.

"You better watch it," she said. "Remember who's paying you."

Dante wrinkled his nose at her and was about to retort when Trish cleared her throat.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she said. "But…" She pointed to flashing blue and red lights in the distance.

"Uh-oh, time to go!"

Dante trotted over to his car and, after tossing the newly acquired swords in the back seat, hopped in. Nero was right behind him.

"What about all this?" Nero asked, motioning vaguely to the twitching body parts of mummified wolves.

"I'll handle it," said Trish. "You go on ahead."

They sped off with Lady following them on her motorcycle. Once they were on the streets and well away from the construction site and the police, Lady pulled up beside them.

"Where to?" She shouted.

"That apartment building," responded Dante, indicating with his head. "Marchy-ass says the devil we're looking for is in the sewers underneath."

"Do you really think he was telling the truth? He was a demon after all."

Dante shrugged.

"We might as well check it out. The kid's glow stick has been shining like a freakin' beacon since we got close to the construction site. This place is crawling with devils."

She nodded once and dropped back a bit to follow them.


	5. Chapter 5 The Dead Walk

Thanks again to my _only_ reviewer, Semjaza. Come on, guys. Alerts and favorites are nice, but I would much rather have a review. So leave a review. Please.

This chapter is pretty barf-tastic, so if you're squeamish…this one's for you!

* * *

Chapter Five ~ The Dead Walk

It was close to midnight as they drove through the streets. They were more empty than usual, especially on a Friday night. All the streetlights were out. A few cars sat in the street with doors open or wrenched off and countless trails of blood leading into the darkness.

Nero's Bringer throbbed painfully, its pale, azure light gleaming with blinding intensity. Dante could smell the demons' foul odor of sweat, blood, and hamburger meat well past its sell by date. The demons never came close, scurrying away from the headlights and the veritable beacon that was Nero's Devil Bringer. Nero growled in frustration; his lips were pulled back to present his gleaming fangs. He twisted around in his seat with Blue Rose at the ready, flicking his eyes and his weapon toward the faintest sound. Dante was not concerned with the demons around them; he kept glancing up at the sky in search of the beast Marchosias had warned him of.

Dante began to coast as they approached the apartment building. It was ancient, a boarded up relic from a more prosperous age. Built in the 1950s, the red brick structure was once a proud edifice, sporting a ballroom, a lounge, and twelve stories of elegant apartments; the owner died in the late '80s and the place went to shit. Now it was a half-crumbled monolith heavily adorned with gaudy graffiti. Dante pulled the car to a stop before the building, Lady parking her bike beside him. The heavy stench of blood and death was far stronger here.

Nero immediately leapt out of the car, something inside him urging him to move, to fight. His blood was rushing in his ears. He was aware Dante was talking to Lady behind him, but he could not focus on that at the moment; the demons circling him beyond the glow of his Bringer were far more important. He could hear them shuffling and hissing in the darkness where he could not see, for the light from his arm limited his vision. And it heightened his sense of frustration. What were they doing? Were they just circling out there in an attempt to scare them away? Why don't they stop screwing around and just attack already, God damn it?

Then it went silent.

Lady and Dante immediately stopped their bickering. The only sound was them readying their weapons. Nero ducked when he felt something rush toward his head and turned to face his opponent. He was greeted by a gaping maw of mismatched fangs and teeth. It roared at him in rage when it realized it had missed and lunged at him again, this time with a stitched appendage that had two forearms, each one trying to make a grab at his cloak as it swirled between its decayed fingers. Nero shot at the demon, tossing a few choice curses its way. The demon dropped down as suddenly and swiftly as a serpent to avoid most of the rounds he fired. Now Nero could get a good look at his assailant. The demon was a maddening amalgam of sewn body parts, each seemingly chosen at random; it had no eyes on its head, but a mess of mouths and jaws that were nigh unidentifiable because of how severely they were mangled; its right arm was actually two sutured together in such a way that gave it twin forearms; its legs were clearly human, but certainly not from the same donor; its left arm was the torso of a dog that grinned at him hungrily; a noxious, green ichor dripped from the stitches that held its body together.

It rushed him with an angry hiss, lashing out with its left arm, the dog head snapping viciously as it went. Nero backpedalled to avoid the blow and drew Red Queen. Another roar sounded behind him as a second demon lunged at him. This one was simply a cluster of heads stitched to what appeared to be a twisted, ropy mass of intestines; the overall appearance of this beast was one of a nightmarish snake. Nero kicked at the heads, one of them tearing away and sailing over the battle to strike Dante's car. The rest of its body undulated and flopped over itself as it tumbled across the asphalt with a sickening series of wet slaps. Nero slashed at the demon that had first attacked him, his sword easily biting into the soft, rotten flesh. The demon did not even flinch; it struck at him with its right arm, rotten nails tearing into the side of Nero's face and forcing him to stumble. It lunged at him as he lost his footing. He punched the demon in the chest with his Devil Bringer; a gut wrenching, squelching sound accompanied the disgusting feeling of his fist sinking into the soft, gelatinous flesh. The sutures across the demon's chest split and the left half of its torso fell away, the gooey tissue stretching like warm dough before tearing and spraying Nero with viscous, green ichor. It grabbed Nero's arm and pulled him in closer in an attempt to bite him. Nero felt a moment of panic as he was drawn toward the mass of snapping, slavering jaws; the rotted and cracked teeth were dangerously close to his face and throat and the stench of fetid meat streaming from the demon stung his nose. Nero roared and, planting his feet, wrenched his arm away with a backwards step; he brought the demon's arms with him, the nails stuck in between the slats of his armored hide. He quickly brought his blade down on the demon, easily cleaving the half-rotten beast in two.

That was when the other demons charged him. All of them were a hideous fusion of assorted body parts that were not altogether human. The first one that came into his vision had six arms and no head. It struck at him with its arms with such force that a hand came off. Nero leapt backwards into another demon; he immediately spun around and elbowed it in the head, the horn-like protrusion on his elbow crushing through the demon's jaw. He grabbed it and hurled it at the demons approaching him from behind, then lunged at the demons. They died easily, like the first two, but they were fast and Nero suffered a few bites and scratches. And there were so damn many of them. An endless flow of necrotic, stinking demons came into his path and he cut them down only to have another leap up in its place.

Nero could not figure how long he fought the demons, but it felt like hours; his muscles were beginning to ache, he was drenched in sweat, blood, and that stinking, green ichor. He started making stupid mistakes and was punished for it; a demon with a piece of rusted metal strapped to its arm sliced his thigh open when he was not paying close enough attention. The smell was starting to get to him and the awful squelching sound Red Queen made when it sunk into the demons' flesh was quickly becoming maddening. He hardly noticed when the demons began thinning out and even stepped after them when they started backing away, so focused was he on eliminating all the foes before him. Nero looked around nervously when the remaining demons fled, sure they were planning something. What would make them retreat so suddenly?

He doubled over and vomited, using Red Queen to support his torso. He heard Dante approach him.

"You all right, kid?"

Nero did not look up as he spat out a glob of bile on the pavement.

"Never been better," he growled.

Dante patted him on the back.

"The smell got to me."

"I hear ya," said Dante as he scanned the skies. "Keep your eyes peeled. I sensed something up there just before the demons ran off."

Nero straightened and scowled as he felt Lady grinning maliciously at him. He took the moment to reload Blue Rose, curling his lip in annoyance at each throb of his Devil Bringer. The demons were obviously still close by, yet he could not hear them and the stench of death was more than overwhelming. He froze suddenly, sensing something huge pass above him.

"Did you feel that?" Dante asked quietly.

"Yeah…it may have been Rodan…"

Dante grinned. He had not seen a Godzilla movie in a very long time and from what he remembered, the monsters in the films were nigh impossible to kill. If it indeed was a kaiju monster, they'd be in trouble.

"Didn't realize you had such good taste, kid."

"C'mon. Everyone's seen the Godzilla movies…and I ain't a kid."

A sudden, piercing screech echoed off the buildings. The screech was paralyzing, causing both hunters and even Lady to bend over and cover their ears in agony. A shadow dropped toward them with blinding speed. Dante and Nero leapt away from the grasping talons, each hooked claw large enough to dig deep grooves in the pavement that either hunter could fit in comfortably. A deafening crunch sounded as the monster landed about thirty feet away. Its long tail swept away the bodies littering the street as it turned to face them. Dante's face fell as he beheld the demon before them. The demon was clearly female, the sagging, wrinkled breasts making that all too obvious. Her shape was of a bat with a smashed up nose, cracked lips forced back because of its massive fangs; huge, satellite-dish ears framed her head along with a twisted crown of yellowed horns. She had no eyes. A massive pair of scarred wings slowly folded against her back as she took a step towards them; her weight left deep craters in the concrete.

"Aw, man," muttered Dante. "I was kinda hoping you'd be a stripper with wings or something."

The demon froze.

"Excuse me?" The demon hissed, her voice was laced with rage.

"Ugh, don't move too much! I feel like I'm looking at my grandma…"

"How dare you!" She screeched. "I will devour you for your insolence, Son of Sparda!"

"Hello," protested Nero, "I'm here, too!"

She roared and charged them, her mouth gaping wide to snap them up into oblivion.


	6. Chapter 6 Nelapsi

Has anyone noticed that the Mythbusters have Alastor? You know, the first sword you get in DMC1 and possibly one of the best weapons in the entire series?

It's because Adam Savage made the sword for the live action DMC1 commercial.

I just blew your mind.

* * *

Chapter Six ~ Nelapsi

The demon's powerful legs propelled her forward, her talons digging trenches in the asphalt. In two steps she reached them and snapped her massive jaws in futile attempts to devour them. She heard them dash off to either side, weapons being drawn; she kicked at one of the little ticks, snarling with rage when her foot went into a nearby building. Then there was deafening, high-powered gunfire and she reared back as a cluster of bullets pierced the side of her face and neck. She turned and charged at the shooter, ignoring the ticks slashing at her legs and leaping the short distance across the street to her new foe. Though this one was human (she could smell it), it was still too fast for her and she was snapping at air again. She let out a frustrated roar as the bullets tore through her once more. The ticks were around her feet in a moment, hacking and slashing at her legs and stomach. She bit and kicked at them, but none of her moves connected; she was just too big and slow to catch the little fleas rushing around her. And the bullets! Gah! Those were infuriating! They felt like thousands of little bee stings all over her body. She could not fight them like this, the sky was her domain. She whipped her tail around in order to knock them back just before she lifted her wings and launched off the ground. The force of wind her wings created knocked over Lady's bike and even slid Dante's car back a few feet.

Lady cursed as she reloaded her Kalashnikov. The demon had melted into the darkness like an ice cube in warm water and was completely invisible. Not even Dante could see her; he just kept Ebony and Ivory pointed toward the sky, searching for the slightest movement.

They all froze as a series of high-pitched clicks echoed through the buildings; the sound was barely audible and Dante was the first to notice. A moment later, the demon came back around with talons outstretched. They shot and sliced at her as she flew by, but their counterattack did close to nothing. Nero made a grab at her tail and cursed when the slimy appendage slipped between his claws. She disappeared into the darkness again.

"Man, I hate when they pull this bullshit," snarled Dante.

"You mean when they outsmart you?" Nero asked dryly. Lady grinned.

"I mean when they cheat. There hasn't been a demon yet that could outsmart me."

Nero scoffed and was ready with a smartass remark, but the demon came back around, this time with a powerful screech. The hunters doubled over in pain, clapping their hands over their ears. She continued her screech as she dove at them, her talons tearing up the street once more; she aimed for the young one, sure the tick's inexperience would guarantee her success. Nero did not have enough time to leap away from the talon coming towards him; the clawed foot crushed him against the concrete, his sword skittering across the asphalt. The demon roared in triumph with her head reared back to strike.

"Nero!" Dante shouted. He ran up behind the demon, leaping over her lashing tail.

"Get off, bitch," grunted Nero as he pushed against the demon's foot with his Devil Bringer; his left arm was pinned against his side and, thus, useless. He lifted her foot a few inches off him, even when she pressed down harder.

The demon snarled at Dante as he slashed at her legs. She roared and snapped at him, barely grazing his shoulder, and shifted her body so she was between them and her captive. Nero hissed when he was dragged across the asphalt. Dante hacked at her face, slicing open her lips and taking a chunk out of her nose. She reared back and kicked at him; Nero snarled at the weight pressing him into the asphalt. Lady shot the demon's face, tearing off thick pieces of flesh. Her bullets screamed and whistled as they bounced off the demon's horns. The demon screeched and leapt into the air once more, this time taking Nero with her. Dante cursed and fired at her as she took to the skies.

Nero pummeled the demon's toe, his lips pulled back in rage. The demon's hide was covered in a thin of film of slime that seemed to ooze from every pore and, besides smelling like sewage, was already beginning to soak through Nero's clothing, chilling his skin. Each time his fist smashed against her toe, a spattering of the slime shot out to slap against his face and coat his Devil Bringer. The demon roared and swung her head around to bite him. He punched her jaw as she came close and grabbed one of her horns when she was momentarily stunned. She jerked her head back, but could not break his hold.

"Release me, pest!" The demon bellowed.

"You first." Nero spat back.

She pulled her had back once more and again Nero was able to keep hold of her horn. The contorted position she was in was throwing off her flight pattern and she wavered in the air; it was becoming difficult to keep her altitude. She screamed in rage.

"You little tick!" She howled. "I will crush you!"

The demon tightened her talons around Nero, intending to shatter his bones. He snarled with pain and was forced to release her. Nero pushed against her toe with his Bringer; he managed to move the digit back enough for him to free his left arm. He brought his arm out, Blue Rose cocked and ready, and fired at the demon's throat. The armor piercing rounds easily tore through her neck and a thick spurt of dark blood sprayed out from the wound. She roared with pain and rage. The demon uncurled her talons and Nero responded by latching on to the toe he had come close to breaking. He pulled himself onto her foot, hooking an arm around her ankle and shot at her chest and stomach. She whipped her head around to bite him again, but Nero swung behind her ankle and she ended up biting her own foot. The demon snarled with rage and ferociously shook her leg; Nero dug the claws of his Bringer into her flesh and held on tightly. He clambered up her leg, using his claws to hook into her skin as he went. Once on her back he took a moment to reload Blue Rose. The demon pulled a wing in close to her body and Nero cursed when she flipped over. He quickly grabbed a wrinkle of slimy skin, hooking his claws into the flesh; his legs slipped out from under him and he was dangling by one arm. Then she tucked in both her wings and they plummeted toward the earth. They were in freefall for a few moments before the demon snapped her wings open, bringing them to a sudden stop. Nero jerked forward and his face slammed against the demon's spine; the force of the impact broke his nose.

"Ah, fuck!" Nero snarled as he clapped a hand over his nose. There blood covering his hand when he brought it away from his face.

He rose and sprinted the few steps up to the demon's shoulders. There, he was forced to drop down against the powerful muscle as she dipped toward the earth once again. This time she came much closer to the streets below, close enough for Dante and Lady to get a few shots in her chest. Once back in the air and well above the buildings, Nero leapt up and pounded his fist against the demon's shoulder where it joined with the arm of her wing. After a few well-placed punches, the bone snapped with a sickening crack and the demon screamed in agony. Nero wrapped his hand around the broken wing, his claws punching through the thin membrane of skin; he twisted it until the flesh severed and wrenched his arm back to rip the rest of the wing off with a wet, tearing sound. The demon screamed in torment as they plummeted toward the old apartment building, blood spraying from her massive wound. Her other wing was useless and did nothing to slow them down. Nero braced himself against the demon's shoulders as the building rapidly approached them. This was probably not one of his better ideas…

Nero jolted forward when they collided with the building, losing his grip in the slimy, bloody skin and tumbling over the top of the demon's neck and head. He landed on his stomach on the top floor of the apartment building and leapt up to face the demon whose head was poking in through the hole her body had created.

But she was dead.

The impact had driven glass, brick, and steel rebar into her chest and neck. A torrent of blood was flooding into the room. Nero holstered Blue Rose, sighing in relief that his Bringer finally stopped pulsing. He could hear Dante laughing outside and grinned. Now he had to find a way down. The room he was in was hardly a room at all; almost all the walls were broken down, glass and a few mysterious stains littered the floor; part of the ceiling was caved in. There was a bundle of blankets and a few empty cans shoved into a corner. Some graffiti, most of it Satanic, covered the part of the wall close to the bundle of blankets. He could see the stairwell and into a few other rooms from where he stood. Aside from the demon blood, he could smell urine and hot garbage. Nero calmly made his way toward the stairwell, stepping over the glass, waste, and broken wall as he went.

Suddenly, his Bringer gave a powerful throb that shook his torso and lit up once more. He whirled around with his weapon at the ready, fixing his aim on the demon stuck in the side of the building. Yet she did not move. He watched her carefully for another moment before flicking his eyes around the floor. There were no demons that he could see. The place seemed empty.

Nero turned and started when he saw a pair of piercing, yellow eyes leering at him. He brought his weapon around and quickly fired at the demon. Before he knew it, he was slammed up against the wall, a cold hand wrapped around his throat. The sudden force caused him to drop Blue Rose; it struck the floor with a dull thunk.

"Oh, that's a pity…"

The demon was looking at the dead body stuck in the building. His yellow eyes were bloodshot, the left one clouded over with cataracts; between them were the smashed remains of his bullets. The pale, translucent skin was pulled tight over his face, creating the semblance of a skull; his lips were cracked and bloodless. Greasy, black hair framed his face and hung down far past his shoulders. A pair of molting, black wings sprouted from his back. He was incredibly thin, his bones protruding through his pallid skin; the belt around his waist barely held in place a long, dirty, bloodstained smock. The demon turned his attention back to Nero and sneered at him, the movement of his lips splitting them and blood oozed down his chin. His teeth were yellowed and crooked, the gums diseased and bleeding in places.

"I really liked her," he said; his voice hoarse. The stench of his breath was akin to sewage, blood, and fetid meat.

"Ugh, brush your teeth," Nero snarled as he struggled against the iron grip of the demon's hand around his throat.

The demon laughed and slammed him against the wall twice with enough force to daze him.

"You are a fool to come here," the demon hissed. "You and your friends. You should have stayed on your little island…at least you would have lived longer."

Nero punched the demon, but his fist bounced off uselessly; it felt as if he had just punched a block of granite and he curled his lip at the unexpected pain. The demon grabbed his Bringer.

"None of that now," he said, his eyes dancing with amusement. The demon leaned in closer. "I've been watching you and Dante and the women. I saw you fight Marchosias and I knew that he would send you here. I watched you fight Nelapsi; I knew you would kill her. Now, I have a few important questions for you. What were you planning on doing? Charging in here and killing me? Did you really think that would work?"

"I've taken down bigger demons with bigger egos than you, asshole."

The demon laughed.

"Indeed," he chuckled. "You cannot kill me, Nero. I am Samael, the Angel of Death. And this world is mine. I just need a little something from you to make my job easier."

He slammed Nero on the floor, releasing his Bringer and using both hands to force his mouth open. Samael vomited a black tar over Nero's face; it came in a torrent with the strength of a waterfall. Nero thrashed beneath Samael, punching and kicking at the demon's body, but he might as well have been trying to move a mountain. The flood of vomit never abated; Nero sputtered and choked at the endless flow as he drowned. A moment later, he triggered in desperation. The resulting explosion launched Samael through a half-broken-down wall. Nero leapt up, his face twisted into a silent snarl and clutching Yamato in his Devil Bringer.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" His voice was echoed by the ghostly image hovering just behind him.

Samael laughed.

"Well, come on then," the demon said with a wicked grin. "Show me just how you'll kill me."

Nero slashed at Samael, sending a blast of energy toward the demon and cutting through the building. He was right behind his initial attack with Yamato ready to strike once again, but froze when he saw that Samael had disappeared. Then there were hands around his Bringer and they were crushing it, twisting it around backwards and snapping his wrist; the armor splintered and dug into the soft flesh between. Nero howled in pain and dropped Yamato. Samael threw him to the floor and took up Yamato.

"Ah, yes," he said in wonder as he examined the blade. "Finally! The weapon used to separate the demon world from the human's. I thank you for bringing this to me."

Nero held his shattered arm close to his body, the blood seeping through his clothes; he was unable to stop the tremors wracking his frame. He glared at Samael with his lips pulled back in a defiant snarl. His eyes were sparking with rage.

"Do you know the trouble I would have gone through without this? You fought those demons I created. Totally useless…I couldn't kill much more than a few humans with those. Now I can bring more powerful devils to the battle."

"I'd like to see you fucking try." Nero snarled, his voice straining as he struggled to keep it under control.

Samael laughed.

"It's really a pity I have to kill you. You have such life in you!"

The last thing Nero saw was the sword coming down on his stomach before he was enveloped in darkness.


	7. Chapter 7 The First of Many

Chapter Seven – The First of Many

_You are doomed._

Flecks of moisture dripped down on his face, his eyelids twitching as he stirred to consciousness. Nero forced his eyes open. He was looking up at a wet, leaky ceiling, the source of the moisture that abused his face. His hot breath condensed into a fog as he breathed and he could feel goose bumps rising up on his skin from the cold. The smell of blood was heavy around him. An old light fixture dangled above. His body ached; he felt as if he had been hit by a semi. It was a moment before he remembered where he was. The top floor of an old, crumbling apartment building in seedy Capulet City.

_You've already lost._

Nero sat up, gasping at the pain in his abdomen. He took a moment to examine his right arm, its mangled appearance shocking him. The thick plates armor along his forearm were cracked and laced with dried blood; shards of the armor were stuck deep in the soft, blue flesh beneath from which the normally bright glow had faded into a dull gray; his wrist was twisted half-backwards and a bone was jutting out from the wound; the whole of the arm was caked in dried blood up to his shoulder. He had come to think of his arm as indestructible, especially in the months following the incident with the Savior. His Devil Bringer had saved his life many times. He had fucking stopped swords with it. How could it be so easily obliterated?

_And now you're my new toy._

Now Nero was sure he had heard something. He looked back and then around, listening carefully. No one was there and all he could smell was his own blood.

At that moment, he felt the floor begin to shake. Arms shot out from the floor around him and wrapped around him before he had time to react; they crushed his arms against his sides, dug their nails into his skin, and pulled him down into darkness as he roared in rage and fear. He struggled against them, but it was useless, especially with his right arm broken. The hands began to tear at his clothes, hair, and skin, leaving behind bloody furrows.

"Get the fuck off me!" He bellowed.

Nero screamed in agony as they latched onto his arm and wrenched off pieces of his armor; skin and blood stretched beneath the armored plates as they were ripped off before tearing with a wet snap. Their fingers dug into his skin and began to pull off pieces of his flesh. He fought back desperately, snarling and biting at the arms around him; he twisted in their grasp, but he could not escape. They ripped open the wound in his stomach and reached inside. He watched in fear as his insides were drawn out, the pain incredible mind-numbing. All he could feel and think was pain as he was slowly torn apart.

And laughter.

Endless, maniacal laughter.

* * *

"What's the matter with him?" Dante asked with obvious concern.

"For the ninth time, Dante, I don't know." Trish responded.

Nero was thrashing around in the backseat of Dante's car, his face twisted into a mask of pain and low, miserable groans leaving his lips. His wounds were tightly wrapped and still bleeding. Black tar and blood stained his clothes and hair.

"How long has he been doing that?" Lady asked.

"Since I found him," said Dante. "That's where I got this bloody nose from; he punched me."

The sun was beginning to rise. Hours earlier, Dante had rushed into the apartment building when he felt a sudden rush of demonic energy; he left Lady behind in his brief moment of panic. If something happened to the kid, he would never be able to forgive himself. He found Nero on the top floor bleeding and thrashing on the floor as if he was trying to fight something off. When he left the building with the younger hunter, Trish had caught up to them. He did not think he would ever be so relieved to see her. It was a struggle bandaging Nero as he writhed, Dante holding him as the girls wrapped his wounds. Nero had not stopped twisting and jerking since. He was now drenched in sweat, breathing erratically, and running a high fever.

Dante fixed Trish with his questioning gaze for the umpteenth time that morning; there was a poorly veiled look of desperation in his eyes. Trish sighed.

"I told you," she said. "This could be any number of things and there's no way for me to know what's happening, what caused it, or how to stop it unless I talk to him."

"You must have some idea!"

Trish scowled at him.

"As I've said, they're most likely nightmares. And I'm sure they're not pleasant. You don't dream about skipping through daisies and thrash around like that."

"There's gotta be something we can do…he's going to hurt himself if this keeps up."

"We've got company," Lady interrupted.

The corpse demons had returned and were cautiously approaching them from the alleyways, over parked cars, and from the windows of buildings; they were followed by the remainder of the mummified wolves the hunters had faced last night. Dante snarled in annoyance before grabbing Pandora from the car. He immediately began firing on them, Trish and Lady following suit. The demons sprinted at them, leaping and dodging sprays of bullets and ignoring the slugs that tore into their rotten flesh. They fought with more ferocity and speed than they had before, many of them did not seem to care if they were wounded or not. The group had no trouble fighting the demons, at least at first. Eventually, the sheer number of them began to wear at their endurance. The demons bounced around them, diving around their attacks and pushing past their defenses. Even Dante suffered a few bites and scratches. The battle lasted until well into the afternoon when the demons finally thinned out and the last one was dispatched. The streets were littered with their carcasses: noxious, green ichor mixed with blood and tar stained the asphalt; limbs, teeth, nails, and organs were scattered across the ground. A horrible smell hung in the air.

Dante never thought he would be sick of fighting demons, but he had been fighting non-stop since ten o'clock the previous night, and with Nero injured the worry began to draw away his demonic stamina. He stood still for a moment, breathing heavily and eyes scanning for any potential threat. After it was clear there would be no more demons attacking them, he checked on Nero. The kid had finally stopped convulsing, but he was still breathing erratically and sweating profusely. He also developed a startling new symptom; he was staring blankly at the sky, eye clouded over and locked on some point off in the distance; his mouth hung open in abject terror. Lady and Trish appeared on either side of Dante and stared at Nero in silence. After a few harrowing minutes, Nero's eyes and mouth finally closed; he let out a huff of air and his body relaxed.

"Fuck," snarled Dante as he tossed Pandora in the backseat; it thumped against the floor of the vehicle beside Nero's weapons. "This kid is going to be the death of me."

The clouds had begun to gather overhead and the sky darkened. The air was charged with tension, the entire earth seeming to wait in anticipation of some catastrophe.


	8. Chapter 8 The Calm

Chapter Eight ~ The Calm

"…the fuck this asshole is."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Nero stirred. The first thing he became aware of was the pain; his Devil Bringer felt as though it had exploded and his stomach ripped open. He opened his eyes and panicked when he saw darkness and the closeness of the sky. He bolted upright, snarling with pain and dropping back as his body protested the sudden movement. A moment later, he realized he was in Dante's car; he recognized the interior and its smell of pizza and booze. The top was up, that explained the darkness above him and why the sky seemed so close. A low thumping sound told him it was raining. The windows were only half-way rolled up and a few flecks of moisture made their way into the interior. Nero closed his eyes in relief. Every muscle in his body ached. He was exhausted, more than he had ever been in his entire life; it felt like he had run four marathons and was immediately struck by a train afterward…maybe dragged behind it for a few miles too.

"Hey, looks like Sleeping Beauty's awake."

"Thank God!" Nero heard the door open. "Hey, kid!"

Nero cracked an eye open to see Dante grinning at him from the front seat.

"Morning, sunshine," he said cheerily. "Good thing you're awake, I was afraid I was gonna hafta kiss ya."

Nero scowled at him before dragging his hand over his face.

"You're an idiot." His voice was hoarse and thick. He was unable to think of anything cleverer than that.

"Me? I'm not the one that crashed a giant bat-demon into a building. By the way, that was a pretty ballsy move. I'm impressed…but it was still stupid."

Nero forced himself into a sitting position, ignoring the pain in his abdomen. They were a few blocks away from the apartment complex where they did battle with the horde of demon zombies and the massive bat demon. His stomach was tightly wrapped in bandages, his arm in a splint. He looked at the radio in search of a clock and scowled at the bullet hole.

"What time is it?" He asked, turning to look at them and blushing slightly when he noticed the look of concern on their faces; he scratched at his nose.

"Two," said Lady. "You were out for fourteen hours." She leaned against the side of the car, her hip cocking to one side. "What happened to you in there?"

Nero briefly explained his fight with the she-devil and the demon inside the building.

"He just grabbed my arm and snapped it," he explained, "Like it was nothing. Then he took Yamato." At that Dante's face hardened; Trish and Lady glanced at one another. "He sliced me with it and I guess he left me there."

"He's got Yamato?" Trish asked. Nero looked at her and nodded. "I think I've an idea of where Samael is headed."

"The Temen-ni-gru?" Lady asked.

Nero gave them a questioning look.

"You must have seen it when you pulled into port," said Lady. "It's a huge tower, bigger than anything in the city; and it is very obviously not of human construction."

"We'll meet you boys there," said Trish; she gave Dante an expectant look before leaving with Lady, who cursed at her bike a few times as she tried to start it. The bike was banged up from its tumble across the asphalt. Lady grinned in triumph when it finally started and they sped off through the rain. Dante was relieved.

He started the car.

"You gonna be able to fight with your arm out of commission?" He asked. The normal stupid grin on his face was gone.

"I've had practice," replied Nero.

Dante nodded and began driving.

"Your sword's on the floor; Blue Rose is next to her."

Nero took up his weapons and carefully examined them; there was not even a scratch on either weapon. Pleased, he holstered Blue Rose and took up Red Queen in his left hand. He struggled into the passenger's seat, his stomach searing with pain in protest of the movement.

"So, kid," began Dante. "You have any weird dreams or visions or anything? You were thrashing around like you were on fire when you were unconscious."

Nero frowned and contemplated for a moment.

"Yeah, actually," he said and then he described his dream of being torn apart while being completely aware throughout. It had seemed so real at the time and it was terrifying, even for Nero who had suffered more than a few horrifying nightmares during his young life. He was still unnerved from the experience, but was relieved it was just a bad dream.

"That's fucked up." Dante stated when Nero had finished. "How are you feeling now?"

"Like I got the worst ass-kicking of my life."

Dante ruffled Nero's hair, the grin returning to his face. Nero pushed his hand away in annoyance and shot him a glare.

"Least you're in one piece, eh?" Dante said brightly.

"Yeah – don't do that, it's annoying."

Dante laughed. He fell silent as he drove, deep in thought. Nero was so exhausted that he hardly noticed. He sank deep into his seat, struggling to stay awake. The rain pounding rhythmically against the car was the only sound as they drove.

* * *

"Hey, kid, wake up."

Dante's voice and hand shaking Nero's shoulder roused him from his sleep. Nero ran his hand over his face, wishing for a few more hours or maybe days to sleep. He looked out the windshield as Dante got out of the car. Before him and up the road was the Temen-ni-gru behind a chain-link fence that had a "No Trespassing" sign zip-tied to it. The tower reached up into the low-lying, storm clouds; it was battered and crumbling, pieces of stone were hanging off it and large chunks littered the ground around its base; all the doors and windows on the first and second floors were boarded up; it was heavily adorned with graffiti; there was a makeshift altar off to one side of the staircase that led up to the entrance. Nero had a weird feeling in the back of his skull, as if his skin was writhing against the bone.

He stepped out of the car carefully so as not to hurt himself and placed Red Queen on his back, his brow knotted in confusion. Trish and Lady were already there and had broken the lock on the fence. Dante had a look of dread on his face.

"You look like you're going to your execution," stated Nero.

Dante did not respond. He merely stared up at the tower.

"Let's get this over with," he growled after a moment and strode past them.

* * *

I hated this chapter; I had so much trouble writing this and it sucks (I actually changed the chapter title about seven times and that is not hyperbole). So I apologize for the suckiness.


	9. Chapter 9 Welcoming Party

I know it's been a while. I got distracted with the holidays and video games (blame Minecraft) and with some weird personal stuff…like having the worst case of writer's block in my whole God damn life.

I apologize for the wait; there is no way this should have taken a month to write.

So finally and for your pleasure, I would like to present the ninth chapter of The End.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Nine ~ Welcoming Party

Nero's Bringer erupted as soon as he stepped through the fence. He winced at the sharp pain the sudden throb caused and choked back a shout; the light shone brilliantly through his bandages, the blood stains giving it a faintly violet cast. With a snarl as his arm gave another throb, he drew Blue Rose, his companions drawing their weapons as well.

_Don't be a fool._

The demons lunged at them from their hiding places behind the rubble and burst through the boarded up windows of the tower. They were corpse demons, similar to the ones the hunters faced before, but these were clearly demonic, seemingly straight out of hell and more varied than their earthly counterparts. Some were large and bloated, their sutures seeming about to split and ichor spurted from their incisions as they moved; the ichor splattered against the asphalt with a sizzle. Others were sleek and lean with long limbs and fangs and had shocks of matted fur growing in patches along their backs that was thick with grave mold; these were swifter than Assaults. All were covered in small spines and had long, lupine faces with crooked and jutting fangs. Their leathery skin was stretched tight over their bodies and it glistened with a layer of slime and blood that oozed from open cuts and sores. A cloud of insects followed them, buzzing with excitement as the promised feast.

The hunters engaged the demons, Dante leading the attack. He seemed bent on destroying as many of them as he could.

_Turn back._

Nero emptied his cylinder before drawing Red Queen. He was careful with his swings; he could feel the skin pulling at the half-healed wound on his abdomen as he moved. The demons leapt and sprang around him like wolves would an elk, snapping at his limbs and clawing at his coat. He felt like prey. He would have used the Exceed system in his weapon, that would give him the boost of speed he needed to catch the demons, but he was worried about hurting himself. He had to consciously avoid using his Devil Bringer during the fight, frustrating to say the least as his powerful, right arm would have given the edge he needed to fight the lithe, agile demons. Instead, he conserved his energy and watched the demons carefully, attempting counterattacks. Finally, he managed to clip a few of the fast ones, sending them back into the crowd with angry snarls and hisses. The swollen demons eventually made their way to the front of the pack. They mindlessly pushed their allies out of the way and rose their arms up to attack. His blade bit into the soft bodies of the demons. One of them that took a serious blow to its abdomen swelled up and Nero, propelled by instinct, leapt back just before it exploded, spewing acidic blood over the asphalt and the nearby demons. The acid melted the flesh off a few demons that were standing too close. Some of it splashed against his coat and burned a small hole through the denim. The explosion caused a chain reaction as it spattered against another of the bloated demons. It burst as the acid melted away a good portion of its flesh. A few more demons burst from the contact with the acidic blood, their contents spewing forth and causing even more demons to explode. They gave out miserable cries as they ruptured. The sacks of flesh they left behind still twitched and pulsed with life, but they had lost all ability to walk.

"As if this wasn't hard enough…"

At least now he had room to maneuver.

Nero sliced at a half-melted demon that lunged at him. The sinewy beast tried to twist out of the way, but it only succeeded in rending itself in two, its legs going one way and its torso another. It struck the asphalt with a wet crunch and splattered. Its melted flesh spilled out around Nero's feet. Nero cut down a few more demons, carefully stepping over the splattered remains of the devil that had failed so badly at life, it accidentally killed itself. The demons were easy to attack and kill now that they were half-melted, many of them making the same mistake as the first and wrenching their own limbs out in desperate attempts to escape Nero's blade. Soon the damaged demons were eliminated, replaced by fresh, healthy ones. They danced around him, teeth bared, snapping their fangs and slashing their claws at him. Nero snarled in frustration. Each swing of his sword missed, coming breathlessly close to making contact. The demons leapt within range of his blade and then leapt back when he moved to attack.

They seemed to enjoy teasing him with death.

And all the while he could hear laughter. He was not sure which of the bastards was laughing at him, but he was going to tear out its larynx and beat the fucker to death with it.

After a few, brief minutes of the punishment, Nero had had it. With a frustrated roar he revved Red Queen and quickly sliced at the closest demon. The blade accelerated through the air, bringing him closer to the demon, and sliced through its skull. Flames erupted over the demon's flesh. It squealed in agony as it burned, slashing at Nero in desperation. He ducked under the slashing claws and kicked the beast in the chest. The force of the blow sent the demon crashing into its allies. Nero ignored the dull pain in his abdomen as he fought and soon he completely forgot about it, the adrenalin coursing through his veins acting as the perfect painkiller. He cut through the ranks of demons with renewed fury. The demons had little room to maneuver because of their vast number. They bunched up as they bounced away from him, tripping over each other and knocking one of the bloated demons on its side. The bloated demon burst; its ichor liquefied the fleshy legs of any demon nearby. He dispatched the newly weakened demons and gracefully stepped around the puddle of acid bubbling on the asphalt, reducing it to a tarry mess. He sought out the other bloated, caustic masses of flesh and struck those beasts down first before turning on its nearby allies.

As Nero hacked his way through the demons, he could hear Dante cheering and whooping and saw a flash of red as the older, more experienced hunter launched across the battlefield. How an old man could move that fast was baffling. The demons fled from Dante, attempting to regroup and surround him. He cut many of them down before they got too far away. They were far too fast for even him, however, and most of them escaped and scurried away up the tower, into the windows, over and under the rubble, and back around him.

"Aw, c'mon," he taunted as he shot at them, chunks of their flesh flying off with each spray of bullets. "You're not running away are you? We were just starting to have fun!"

A group of the demons stopped to hiss at him while the rest continued their hasty retreat. The remaining demons circled him cautiously; they knew the enemy they faced was powerful. Two of them charged on either side of in an attempt to flank him. He sliced one and quickly brought Rebellion around in a wide sweep, knocking back a few of the demons that got too close as well as hewing through the other's torso. More demons lunged at him, their jaws snapping and claws slashing. Dante ducked beneath a lunging demon and swept his leg around to trip one of its allies. He shot it as it crashed to the asphalt and then immediately leapt, impaling one of the devils on his sword as he rose and whipped Rebellion around to fling it off; the blade sliced through the closest demons and knocked back the others. The bloated demons pushed their way through the crowd towards him, mindlessly shoving aside their comrades. Dante picked them off with pot shots as he kept the crowd at bay. He kicked them back into the throng when they came too close and shot their weak points when they were a safe distance away. The other demons began to push the bloated ones towards and even struck them to force them to burst; some of the bloated demons even rushed at him and threw themselves at the ground around him, spattering their acid everywhere. Dante suffered a few burns from the ichor, but he healed quickly; his clothes were not so fortunate. His coat was peppered with holes, burns, and tears.

The battleground was quickly becoming a mosh pit. More demons flooded in from the tower, replacing their fallen comrades. It hardly mattered how many were killed or how many retreated, there were always more, and they clustered together, pushing and shoving each other frantically to get to the hunters or to flee. Ones that fell were trampled and the bloated demons were thrust aside by their swifter brethren. There were so many demons, that they had no room to maneuver. They were packed so close together that they were cut down in clusters, Dante and Nero slicing through groups of them with ease while Lady and Trish sawed through them with their firearms.

The growing crowd of demons forced the hunters close together; they could not move more than a few feet in any direction. They were trapped in the center of the horde with a closing ring of demons around them.

"Which one of you assholes is laughing at me," Nero roared with anger; the rage was coursing through his blood like a fire. He was resisting the violent urge to leap into the swarm of demons and carve through them until he found the one that was laughing at him. He knew that would be stupid, but his body was telling him, "Fuck it! Just get in there and kill the son of a bitch."

This would be easier if he could use his Devil Bringer.

The other slayers were having problems of their own. They all had to consciously avoid hitting each other, be it with swords, lightning, or gunfire. Lady was forced to use the bayonet on her submachine gun as often as she shot with it; she even had to kick and punch a few of them a safe distance away. She tossed a few grenades into the legions of demons, cooking them for a few seconds until she threw them. The explosions sent chunks of demon everywhere. The demons tried to throw the grenades back, but they were never fast enough.

Then, after about half of them were slain, they began to pull back as one. They moved back slowly, drawing the slayers steadily toward the Temen-ni-gru before they suddenly fled. The demons screamed as they clambered over one another and up and into the tower. They bit, clawed, and shoved other demons out of the way. The bloated demons stood their ground to cover their allies' retreat.

Dante sheathed his sword when the last of the bloated demons were destroyed and their comrades had fled. He scratched at his beard in puzzlement. Demons rarely backed down from a fight and never had he encountered so many retreating as one.

"That was weird," stated Trish as she holstered Luce and Ombra; she had a few scratches and burns that were quickly healing.

Dante shrugged.

"They must've seen my awesome style and skill and realized there was no way they could win," he said with a wide grin. "Smart demons."

"More like they saw your ugly mug and it scared them off," Lady quipped as she reloaded her assortment of weaponry.

Trish rolled her eyes as their bickering continued and turned her attention to Nero; she had been concerned about him since Dante pulled him thrashing out of the old apartment building hours earlier. Now he was glaring at the Temen-ni-gru, head turned slightly to the side and brow furrowed with Red Queen still in his hand. His eyes flicked to her for a moment before returning to the tower.

"That son of a bitch is playing with us," he snarled.

She gave him a questioning look, placing a hand on her hip. Nero looked at her and frowned at the expression on her face.

"He's trying to wear us out by sending butt-loads of demons after us," he explained. "Trying to force us to make a mistake…" He paused. "They didn't retreat because they didn't think they could win; they're going to ambush us once we go in there."

He did not tell her about the laughter that never stopped, even after all the demons were defeated.


	10. Chapter 10 Foundations of Terror

Just wanna say that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 kicks ass.

And thanks to all my reviewers…especially for putting up with my erratic updates. Feel free to harass me; it might motivate me to update sooner. But this time I have an excuse. My laptop is out of commission and I've had to mooch off friends and relatives to get this done. It's a little bit longer, so maybe that will make up for it.

* * *

Chapter Ten ~ Foundations of Terror

Dante grudgingly climbed the rubble along the side of the tower. He was a few feet behind Trish and Lady with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He had hoped they would not be able to find a way in or perhaps there was some way they could draw out their enemy, but of course that was foolish. That did not stop him from mentioning it and suggesting a half-ass plan to force the bastard out of the tower that probably would not work. Then Lady gave him a longwinded speech about how the Temen-ni-gru had bad memories for her as well so there was no need for him to act like a child and try to come up with excuses to avoid the place. He made a sarcastic remark about how sympathetic, caring, and wise she was, to which she responded by shooting him in the foot and walking off to find a way up the tower.

It was not that Dante had never intended to return to the tower or that he was actively avoiding the place, he just never expected to return like this. Going to the Temen-ni-gru was something he had to psyche himself up for, even if he was simply exterminating devils in the surrounding area…although he had never planned or wanted to go back _inside_ the tower.

The place gave off this aura of maliciousness that set him on guard. It was as if he was constantly waiting for something to jump out at him and tear his head off.

It scrambled his senses. Sometimes he would be painfully aware of everything going on around him, often to the point of developing a headache. Then in the next minute it would be as if someone had yanked a sack over his head; his hearing was muted; vision blurred; smelling clogged.

It also had an annoying tendency to give off random, sputtering bursts of power that made him think perhaps a powerful demon had finally tore its way through to the human world. Trish had explained it was because the Temen-ni-gru was technically still active even though the gateway to the Demon World was closed. Dante could not care less; he was only pissed off at the false positives it was giving him. There were countless times it had woken him in the middle of the night (or, rather, what Dante considered the middle of the night) and he had rushed out there thinking some shit was about to go down only to find nothing.

Not to mention navigating the place was going to be a nightmare. Like now, they had to climb around the outside to actually get inside.

He groaned. The demons skittering just out of his vision were starting to annoy him. Dante could hear the little fuckers talking to each other in a sputtering, gibbering language that made them sound like their lungs were full of blood. They were definitely planning something. These devils were not mindless drones and Dante knew from experience that devils like these often controlled the drones. And lots of them.

At least he could look forward to killing plenty of demons.

He glanced back at Nero. The kid's eyes were trained on the tower with an angry scowl marring his brow.

"How ya holding up, kid?" Dante called. "You need a break?"

Nero glowered at him. Dante grinned almost maliciously.

"I'm fine," said Nero, his eyes drifting back to the tower. "We're all worried about your rheumatism. And how's your heart? You looked like you were going to pass out back there."

"Ah, so you _were_ watching me back there."

Nero gave him a flat look, the implications not lost on him.

"You're an idiot," he grumbled.

Dante laughed. It was so easy to get a reaction out of Nero. He could not resist teasing the kid; it was just too much fun.

Nero's wary eyes returned to the tower. The power radiating off of it was setting his teeth on edge and making his Devil Bringer flare and throb angrily.

"Just wait 'til we're inside," said Dante.

Dread flooded Nero's veins as they climbed. He could hear the demons talking within the walls of the Temen-ni-gru, climbing as they climbed, matching them step for step. He wanted to run. He wanted to feel their flesh tear beneath his claws. He wanted to hear them scream.

And the inordinate amount of power!

His muscles twitched with anticipation and he was soon drenched in sweat. It mingled with the film of grime over his flesh and stung his eyes. His Devil Bringer was beginning to itch. Covered in scales, the arm did not sweat and had a tendency to get ridiculously hot if it was not exposed to air for too long. He had a theory that it was the demon energy flowing through it that heated it so. Right now it was just another source of rage. Like the damned flies buzzing in his ears. He swatted furiously at them, his lips pulled back in silent fury. Nero was tempted to shoot them. He could not believe the audacity that these little bastards had. Did they know what the hell they were messing with?

In about twenty more minutes they had climbed up a steep incline into an alcove about half-way up the tower. In the back of the alcove was an elevated platform, a set of stairs leading up on either side. An elaborate door was in the back of the room atop the platform; a wheel with three colored blocks was in its center; for each block of color, there was a corresponding relief of an animal. The door was heavily rusted. Unlit torches lined the walls of the alcove and bronze candelabras stood near the platform.

"Is this it?" Nero asked, his voice coming out strained.

"Looks like it," replied Lady. She looked back at Dante and frowned. "What's the matter? You look like you have gas."

"You have that effect on me," said Dante without missing a beat.

Lady, eyes wild with fury, took a deep breath and began to lay into Dante, using an impressive variety of expletives that had yet to be seen or heard in the history of the world. It would certainly go down in legend as the most epic string of insults since man's ancient ancestor first learned to fling its own feces. She insulted his ancestors, distant relatives, future descendents; she emasculated him with the effectiveness of a knife; she described in colorful tones how he would probably be alone for the rest of his life. Dante could only stand there, staring dumbly. Nero was awed.

"Are you done?" Trish asked once Lady had run out of breath. The blonde made her way toward the door during Lady's performance.

"For now," growled Lady.

She gave Dante one last caustic glare before stalking away. Nero followed, glancing at Dante sympathetically; he would have slammed Dante for getting pimp-slapped, but it just seemed cruel.

The door squealed in protest as Dante shoved it open, the metal groaning and rust cracking. It was so badly rusted that he was the only one that could get it open. He stepped in first, Lady close behind him. The room, clearly a storehouse, was dark, the faded, flickering lights barely doing their job. There was a deep crack in the bluish floor to the left of the room. Collapsed pillars were scattered across the storehouse and large, stone bricks were piled along the walls were chunks had fallen away. A heavy, familiar stench of blood and death clung to the air, but there were no demons and it was eerily quiet.

They walked carefully to the center of the room, Lady more so than the others as she could not see well in the dark room. Nero swatted angrily at the flies that had followed them in; the bastards had the nerve to fly directly into his ears and buzz as loudly as they could.

"So," said Trish, "where to?"

A heavy BOOM echoed from somewhere deep within the tower, so loud it made the chamber shake. Clouds of debris fluttered down from the ceiling and a few bricks rolled out of the walls. A series of hollow crashes followed the initial boom; the crashing sound seemed to go on for forever.

"This seems safe," muttered Nero.

"Not wussing out, are you?" Dante teased.

"No!" Nero growled defensively, shooting Dante a glare. So the place was sketchy, but he was not about to go chicken shit and run out; he would never hear the end of that.

The floor continued to shake long after the booms and crashes stopped. And the whispers of demons returned.

"Finally!" Dante cried happily, unable to hide his excitement.

A flood of demons rushed toward them from the crack in the left side of the room. The swarm was made up of the swift, rotten beasts from before and they were joined by a new, insect-like demon with a short torso and long arms and legs. Their hide closely resembled locusts, green and mottled, and they had long claws that curved wickedly like sickles; their faces were smashed up and lacked visible eyes with their mandibles jutting outward menacingly; small spines covered their backs.

The hunters fired – the gunshots almost deafening in the chamber – at the demons, tearing through the frontline of fleshy demons and hardly chipping the exoskeletons of the insects. The demons cleared the distance quickly and the first few were cut down quickly. Soon the demons surrounded them and split them apart, driving them further away with each surge forward.

Nero kicked the insects back into the crowd, their spines puncturing and tearing at the rotting, fleshy demons, before lunging after them with his sword. Red Queen crushed through the thick hides of the insects more than it cut. Shards of armor and gooey, green blood sprayed forth with each swing, but the insects did not seem to even notice. They kept coming, arms swinging and claws tearing, even when they were missing limbs and huge chunks of their carapace. They continued to fight for a few minutes after being decapitated, swinging blindly at anything that moved before finally dropping with a dull crunch.

The insects went straight for Nero, their softer comrades pulling back as they charged forward. They swung their heavy claws at Nero and gnashed their crooked mandibles barely inches away from his face. His wounded fist itched when they came that close, but he had to settle for kicking and kneeing them; he even head-butted a few.

They grabbed at his broken arm, claws easily tearing through the bandages and scraping over Nero's scaled flesh. One of them got its claws stuck in the ridges along his thick hide. He pulled the insect with him as he backpedalled, his lips curled back in an angry snarl. The demon screeched in his face and yanked back. Its claws punctured the scales along his arm as it pulled him toward its comrades. Nero, with an enraged shout, brought Red Queen down upon the demon's skull, splitting it cleanly in two. The demon faltered, but continued to tug at his arm.

For a few minutes Nero had to fight off the demons as he half-dragged around the battlefield. It threw off his stance and accuracy and he came close to tripping a few times. Occasionally, when the devils in the immediate area were slain, he would try to free his arm, but it was useless; the insect was far strong than him. Eventually he was able to pull it off balance and it crashed to the ground with its limbs twitching and legs kicking uselessly in the air. After a few tugs that accomplished nothing aside from tiring him out, he planted his feet and threw all his weight into tearing his arm away from the mindless insect, bringing its claws with him. He stumbled backwards and spun around to regain his balance and to face the insects closing in around him.

Nero could hear Dante clearly over the din of battle. The way he was whooping and hollering, taunting the devils was entertaining and Nero began tossing his own insults at the bastards. They did not react like other demons did; they hardly seemed to realize he was talking. Usually demons would react with fury or taunt him back, but these just kept attacking blindly.

All of the fleshy demons had retreated long ago, leaving the insects to do their dirty work. And that was clever, for the insects were much more resilient than their fetid counterparts. Especially now that there were fewer of them; they became trickier to fight when they had room to maneuver. They moved in zigzag patterns and never approached any of the hunters directly.

Then a steady, rhythmic booming resounded throughout the room; it sounded like war drums. The sound seemed to come from the pit and it shook the storehouse. The spines on the insects' bodies twitched with each thundering crack and bricks, stones, and dust came crashing down from the ceiling and tumbled down the walls. Moments later, a pair of massive hands gripped the edge of the pit and a colossal demon clambered out of the fissure. The beast was at least fifteen feet tall – almost touching the ceiling – and headless. It sported a fantastic musculature, long, thick arms stretching past its knees and ended in wickedly hooked claws that whispered as they scraped against the stone floor. Another pair of arms sprouted from its upper back and dangled over its powerful chest; two more pairs were wrapped protectively around its bloated, bulging abdomen that had burst in places, a viscous, clear, pinkish liquid oozing from the cuts. There was a single, giant, lidless eye in the center of its clavicle and another pair of similar eyes adorned each shoulder. A zipper of teeth shot through the exact center of the demon's chest. The demon's legs were startlingly thin in comparison to the rest of its body; its legs were balancing precariously on a set of tiny hooves. There was a smaller demon perched were the large demon's head should be. It was lanky and skeletal with a blunt, serpentine head. The small, skinny demon was strapped in a leather harness that was connected to its mount through a series of chains that were directly affixed to the larger demon's flesh. It was beating a set of war drums that hung from its harness.

With each pound of the drums the gigantic devil took a step forward, its hooves knocking aside and stepping on any insects that had not gotten out of the way in time.

It went straight for Dante.

* * *

Fucking finally, right? The next chapter should come out relatively quickly…hopefully in the next month.

Leave a review, damn it!


End file.
